SC - Help with Fettiplace's Elizabethan sweets recipe

[Lorix]

Wajdi wrote:

> Recipe, please.
> wajdi
>
> Lorix wrote:
> > (snip)I recently made lemon cordial and strained it
> > as it was full of lots of lemon 'meat'.  (snip)

Oh Sorrry,
Basically I used the recipe for "Syrup of Lemon" from the Miscellany with a
small variation.  Miscellany Recipe
... "Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl of
juice, and add as much of sugar.  Cook it until it takes the form of a syrup."

I needed a fair amount of lemon cordial so I took LOTS of lemons.  All lemons
were juiced, with both the extracted juice and the lemon flesh tipped into the
pot.  Once all the lemons had been juiced the fluid measurement was taken and an
equivalent amount of sugar was added.

I have previously made this recipe and had felt it a little lacking (not exactly
too sweet, but??) so I added a couple of strips of lemon peel to give a bit of
bite.  It was then cooked on an extremely low heat for about 2 hours.  Normally,
I cook it a lot quicker but I had to find something for someone to do who didn't
really want to cook, but was quite content to sit there for 2 hours and stir the
pot and be in the middle of a bustling kitchen to hear the gossip!  Perhaps due
to the slow cooking or the addition of the lemon 'meat' the resultant cordial is
VERY strong.

Heavily diluted (ie 50ml) made 1 litre of drink which was very refreshing and
not very sweet - it had distinct bite.  All of the fighters in the household
like it for re-hydrating during fighting, so does the Baronial Chirugeon,
everyone else is less then impressed. (Almost like gatorade without the fizz)

Double the amount of syrup or more, it becomes a lot sweeter and tends to lose
the refreshing after bite.  Then it tastes more like "normal" store-bought lemon
cordial to the modern palate.

If served hot & strong, it tastes very similar to the lemon packet stuff you buy
from supermarkets for colds, although the fumes are nicer!

The Andalusian recipe translated in The Miscellany also states that the
"advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and binds the bowels".
The note from the esteemed Cariadoc states that they serve it as a strong, hot
drink and if you dilute it you have 13 century lemonade.  Given the medicinal
qualities of the drink quoted, I make one further addition of the herb lemon
balm whose medicinal qualities are stated by Gerard to "comforteth the hart and
driveth away all sadnesse". (Gerard, John:  The Herball or Generall Historie of
Plantes, John Norton, London, 1597.)  Lemon balm, if cut small tends to almost
dissolve when boiled in liquid, it imparts a much stronger (lemonish) aroma to
the drink (particularly when heated) and just alters the taste of the cordial a
little.  I have made the cordial without the addition of the lemon balm and
with.  The general consensus when the cordial is (blind) tasted is the cordial
mixed with the lemon balm addition is picked as "more refreshing & nicer":  no
one can say why exactly, or describe a difference to the taste, they just say
the lemon balm cordial is nicer.  Perhaps the addition is deemed nicer because
it  "comforteth the hart and driveth away all sadnesse", albeit unknowingly!

Lorix

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